Tuesday, October 20, 2009

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 20, 2009) - The ETSU volleyball team snapped a four-game losing streak Tuesday night as the Bucs defeated UNC Asheville at the Justice Center in Asheville, N.C., 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12).

"It was an entire team effort from the court players to the bench," said head coach Lindsey Devine. "Everyone should be proud of their contribution to this win. This win was a good confidence builder as we head into the weekend."

The Bucs had three players post double-doubles including Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.), Amanda Youell (Middleburg, Fla.) and Desiree Dyck (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan). Cogburn posted her eighth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 16 digs. Youell tallied ten kills hitting .412 in the match with 52 assists and seven digs, while Dyck had ten kills and 11 digs.

McKayla Barber (Columbus, Ind.) and Alysa Long (Romulus, Mich.) also had double-digit kills for the Buccaneers as Barber had a team-best 15 kills hitting .458, while Long had 11 kills and five blocks.

ETSU jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first set. The Bulldogs answered with an 8-4 run to even the set at 10-all. Both teams battled back and forth for the lead until UNCA went on a 4-1 run to take a 20-17 lead. UNC Asheville held on to win the set 25-20 on a Holly Shelton kill to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.

The Bucs rallied to tie the match at 1-all in the second set. Play was tight early in the set with as there were six ties and two lead changes, but the Buccaneers went on a 6-2 run to go in front 13-9 and didn't relinquish the lead in the set. ETSU won the set 25-18 on a UNCA attack error.

After ten ties to start the third set, the Bucs used a 6-3 run to go in front 17-14. ETSU increased its lead to 22-16 after a huge block by Dyck and Long, but the Bulldogs battled back to even the score at 24-24 after an 8-2 run. ETSU held on to win the set taking the next two points on kills by Dyck and Barber to go ahead 2-1 in the match.

The fourth set saw UNCA go in front early extending its lead to 17-11 after a 7-3 run. The Bucs came all the way back to tie the match at 21-all after a 10-4 run. ETSU evened the set twice more, but the Bulldogs got the last two points on a Buccaneer service error and a Rachel Guinane kill to even the match at 2-all.

In the final set, the Bucs went ahead 4-2 early after losing the first two points of the set. ETSU held onto the lead throughout the rest of the set as the Bucs won the match on Jen Neice (Allen, Texas) kill.   

The Bucs (7-14, 5-7 A-Sun) are back in action on Friday at 7 p.m. as they host conference rival Mercer in Brooks Gym. For more information on Buccaneer volleyball and all other Buccaneer athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.